Traces of Legionella Bacteria Found to Be Still Present at Parisian Macau

Despite Sands China officials insisting that it has fully cooperated with the Macau Health Bureau, its Parisian Macau casino is still battling legionella bacteria at the resort.

Recent tests by the Chinese Health Bureau showed that the Parisian Macau is still battling Legionella bacteria at the resort from its initial find in April. (Image: Booking.com)

The Sheldon Adelson-owned property was linked to three cases of Legionnaire’s Disease in April and has undergone constant inspections, but is still showing evidence of the bacteria that causes the serious, and sometimes fatal, lung disease that is found in water supplies.

The country’s Health Bureau sent out a statement saying traces of legionella was discovered during testing between Oct. 17 and Oct. 25.

They added they had located unacceptable levels in several locations, including in a bathroom of the shopping mall, the changing room area of the property’s swimming pool, the changing room of outdoor water park “Aqua World” and in a bathroom of an undisclosed restaurant.

“The results show the contamination by legionella bacteria of the hotel room water supply system has been eliminated; however, the water supply system for the public areas [of the property] still shows a few focuses of contamination by legionella bacteria,” the Health Bureau stated.

Sands Defends Practices

Despite the discovery of the disease officials at the Parisian Macau said in a statement to GGRAsia that it was “confident” all water supplies were safe for guests or visitors. They added the resort was fully operational despite the more than 20 detectable levels found in tests.

They said it had “introduced improvements to its water systems, and results of tests conducted by an independent testing laboratory show that all samples fall within international guidelines.”

The Health Bureau was not as convinced and ordered resort executives to deal with the issue, “in the shortest time frame possible” and to “continuously monitor the concentration of legionella bacteria in the water supply systems.”

Rio Las Vegas Sued

The Sands Corp. might heed a lesson learned by the Rio in Las Vegas. They had an outbreak of Legionnaire’s in March and April where there were seven confirmed cases and 28 suspected ones.

An October report by the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) said there were also 56 suspected cases of influenza-like Pontiac fever, a milder illness caused by the same bacteria.

One of the seven who contracted the more serious malady filed a lawsuit against the Caesars Entertainment property on Wednesday.

Christopher Moncado, who lives in Long Beach, California, was hospitalized six months ago with the disease and sent the Rio his medical records and hospital bills. The SNHD confirmed his illness was linked to the off-strip property. When the resort did not reply to his request for compensation he filed legal action.

The 50-year-old’s lawyer, Peter Wetherall, issued a statement saying his client is suffering from disturbed sleep, weakness, shortness of breath and lack of energy.

Moncado previously enjoyed hiking, walking and running with his dog, and weightlifting. He is now depressed and stressed, and worried about what the future holds,” the release said.